For a moment Kihyun thought he was dreaming. As soon as his senses crept back, all he could feel was the pain. He forced his eyes open. Even in the muted light, everything looked like it was spinning. A wave of nausea crawled up his throat and he squeezed his eyes shut hoping that the feeling would subside.

“Hyung?” The voice came muffled as if he was underwater.

Carefully, Kihyun cracked his eyes open again, the world around him was still spinning, but it had slowed down enough for him to able to endure it.

“Hyung?!” The same voice called out again, it sounded clearer this time. Clear enough that even in the state of his muddled brain, he could hear the urgency of the tone. Through blurred vision, his let his eyes explore his surroundings. Though unclear, he could tell from the silhouette that I.M was hovering over him.

“Wha-…” He winced and swallowed thickly, his stomach felt like it was on fire. “What… happened?” He slurred, face etched in pain and confusion.

“I think you passed out.” I.M had barely gotten himself into the house when he saw Kihyun near the kitchen swaying and then crumpling onto the floor. He didn’t have time to break the older boy’s fall because it happened so unexpectedly. “Did you hit your head? Does it hurt?” I.M was rubbing Kihyun’s head, worried that the vocalist had hit his head when he fell.

It took a moment for Kihyun to process what I.M was saying. “…Uh… no… don’t think so…” Even if he did, he wouldn’t know; his head hurt, everything hurt. “I’m… fine…” Kihyun tried to downplay his condition. “Just… dizzy…and fell… I guess”

I.M wasn’t convinced. Not after everything that he heard and saw earlier. First, he heard Kihyun spilling his guts out in the men’s room, just a moment ago, he had helplessly witnessed Kihyun collapse into a heap right before his eyes. “Hyung….”

“I’m fine, really.” Admitting how he truly felt would only cause inconvenience to everyone, he thought. He didn’t want that. The other members had enough to worry about.  A good sleep would fix this. There was absolutely no reason to cause any unnecessary concern over something so trivial such as an upset stomach.

Pushing himself slowly, Kihyun tested his strength. He wasn’t confident if he could do it, but with all his might, he managed to sit up. I.M s an arm around Kihyun’s slender body, gently helping the vocalist up to his feet.

“Can you make it to the room?” I.M asked.

No, he didn’t think he could make it to the room, but he nodded anyway. He let I.M lead him on, a sense of relief washed over him when he saw the doorway to their room. He desperately needed to lie down. At this point, we wanted nothing else but to lay his body down in his own bed.

The relief was short-lived, however. A sharp, stabbing pain suddenly ripped through his abdominal area, causing him to involuntary hissed in pain, his hand clutching at the area where the pain exploded. Kihyun bit his lip to stop himself from crying out.  It hurts so damn bad.

Feeling the smaller boy in his arms tensed up, I.M tightened his hold. “Hyung!” What the what the what the ! He panicked, taking up as much as Kihyun’s weight in his arms, he quickly helped the distressed boy to the closest bed.

There was no way Kihyun was able to climb up to his own bed on the top bunk in the given condition, so he’d have to settle with Jooheon’s bed instead. Kihyun complied, the pain almost knocked the wind out of him. The pain had dulled out considerably and the vocalist was able to catch his breath and calmed himself down a little.

“What happened? Hyung, I think you should see a doctor.” I.M said eyeing him intently. “Everyone else is out, should I call them to come home?”

“N-No… I’m fine…”

“No, you’re not! You just fainted, hyung!”

“I did… not…” Kihyun frowned, his hand unconsciously moving to press at his stomach, where the pain had originated.

I.M hardly looked convinced and Kihyun couldn’t blame the youngest member.  “I haven’t really slept properly since last week, haven’t really eaten properly, either. I’m just tired, so tired that I’m getting all these dizzy spells. You know how it is…” Kihyun tried to reason. “Look, if I don’t feel better tomorrow, I’ll go see the doctor, get some energy shots or something. Just don’t… worry about it…”

The youngest was still not convinced, but he did see some reasonable points from Kihyun. Idol life isn’t easy, fainting due to exhaustion doesn’t really sound far-fetched.

“One more thing… let’s not tell Hongsik-hyung or Shownu-hyung… or anyone about this, okay? It’s not a big deal.”

Kihyun may not think that it was a big deal, but I.M surely thought it was. He had never seen Kihyun in that state before. “If you don’t feel better tomorrow, you WILL go see the doctor, okay?” The youngest said sternly. “Even if you do feel better, I still think you should see the doctor. You took quite a tumble just now, make sure you didn’t get a concussion.”

Kihyun flashed a weak smile and nodded. The string of conversations was tiring him out. Who would have thought talking takes so much energy?

“I think you should lay down here for now. Jooheon-hyung went drinking with his friends, so he’s probably going to be home late, or maybe not at all tonight.”

Kihyun gave another small nod as a response.

“Alright then… do you need anything?”

“Water. Some water would be great. Please, and thanks.”

“Okay! Water it is, and maybe some painkillers and also something to eat! You haven’t eaten at all today, right hyung?”

 Kihyun never agreed on having something to eat. Just the thought of it alone sent his stomach churning. He had no more energy left for another round of fruitless argument so he just agreed.

Satisfied, I.M